Sox's love taps sting

No, he said, he wasn't mimicking Ricky Gutierrez when he raised his right arm to celebrate his seventh-inning home run Friday in the White Sox's 7-2 victory over the Cubs.

And no, he wasn't belittling the Cubs when he pointed to the stands after circling third base.

And sorry, but he wasn't mocking Sammy Sosa when he kissed his fingers and tapped his heart in the dugout.

"It just happened," Valentin said. "I reacted that way. I wasn't trying to make fun of anybody."

Of course not. But Valentin's method of celebration should add some spice to Saturday's series and season finale between the Cubs and Sox. Not that it needs any extra juice.

"Every one of these is like a playoff game," Paul Konerko said. "And I think that makes both teams better."

The standing-room-only crowd of 40,157 at Wrigley Field brought out the best in Konerko, who put the game away when he launched a three-run homer onto Waveland Avenue in the seventh inning.

Konerko, who struck out three times Thursday, drilled Todd Van Poppel's 1-0 fastball for his 18th homer.

"Right before the break I felt great," Konerko said. "And then [Thursday] it felt like I had never picked up a bat before."

Konerko's blast helped give the Sox a 12-11 lead over the Cubs since the advent of interleague play in 1997.

Mark Buehrle improved to 7-4 by pitching seven dominant innings and tying his career high with eight strikeouts. He had only one blemisha two-run homer by Sosa.

The sixth-inning blast allowed Sosa to carve his initials in the team record book. He became the first player in Cubs history with eight 30-homer seasons.

Just as he downplayed his achievement, Sosa dismissed talk that Valentin had mocked him with his round of love taps.

"I don't think so," he said.

So Valentin wasn't making fun of him?

"Not really," Sosa responded. "Don't go there. Next [question]."

Valentin said he pointed to the stands and blew kisses as a tribute to his family.

"I wish I could go ahead and kiss them," Valentin said, "but I was pointing to my wife to let her know I was thinking about her. I didn't mean to show anybody up."

Valentin's manager, Jerry Manuel, took it the same way.

"If people enjoy celebrating things, I have no problem with that," he said. "There will probably be an extra two or three people out [Saturday] to see if he does it again.

"I don't have a problem with Sammy doing his thing. No one in the league does. I hate to see him hop [after homering] against us, but he'll probably be in our stretching group [Saturday], talking and hugging guys. Once the game starts, he'll do his thing."

Valentin's exuberance didn't overshadow his superb play Friday. Some didn't expect him to suit up because of a strained right hamstring that had sidelined him since July 6. But the Sox determined Valentin would be better off playing rather than letting his hamstring stiffen on the bench.

Valentin showed tremendous discipline against an erratic Kerry Wood, drawing walks in his first three at-bats. His seventh-inning homer off Will Ohman gave the Sox a 4-2 lead. If that didn't deflate the Cubs, the two double plays he was in the middle of might have.

"For the last two years he has been the heartbeat of the club," Manuel said of Valentin.

"He understands our style. He knows what's important in a ballgame, how to get those walks from a Kerry Wood and not swing at [high] balls that no one can catch up to.